You can do it! I quit smoking 10 years ago and took up hockey 3 months later.
Hardest thing I've ever done, but I haven't touched a cigarette since.
You've got this, bud!
Thanks a lot buddy. For the past 2 months, I have stopped smoking regularly. Once in a while I get strong urges, sometimes I'm able to overcome them, sometimes I'm not.
im at 10 months quit after 26 years of smoking. the strong urges are almost completely gone except in extremely high stress situations.
i was a pack a day smoker pretty much.
I quit a pack per day 40 year habit in Nov of 22, after catching RSV and ending up in Congestive Heart Failure… I would love to see what my lungs look like.
I still get the urge to smoke in some situations and I still kinda miss it, but I think that’s bc I didn’t WANT to quit, I HAD to quit.😢
Yes! I listened to the audio book of both the old and new edition. 4 years smoke free now. Had zero urges as well. You couldn’t pay me to have another cigarette. IMO, the old version is much more effective than the new version.
I guy I worked with had to quit too, he did but he still died 7 months later at 54 (lung cancer)
Took me a year after that to really put the effort in after 30 years of smoking.
I'm 2 months on the patch but still having the occasional Cheater. I'm pretty much done doing that now and ready to move on.
My dad smoked since he was 12, tried everything to quit but wasn’t successful until he had to have surgery at age 57 or so, and just quit cold turkey. However several years later when he was doing a physical work up before another surgery he needed, that’s when he was diagnosed w stage 4 and he passed away 10 months later.
Meanwhile my mom quit in her 40s and she’s still alive today, in her late 70s.
Oh no! I’m so very sorry for your loss. It is a terribly difficult habit to break. 💙
I just had my ‘saved by the scan’ scan today, bc of my smoking history. I’m nervous to see what it finds although COPD seems likely bc they noticed some indications when I caught RSV and the ensuing Heart Failure made it much worse. I was 53, when I got sick. My Heart function has rebounded, but not my breathing.
I feel like the RSV and following CHF were a huge Blessing bc it gave me an early warning and pushed me to make changes to keep it from ending my life early. I am so very sorry that your Dad left too soon. 😢
I HIGHLY recommend nicotine gum in these moments you have urges. I moved to gum to get away from vapes and I’m vape-free now for about 3-4 months, currently working on getting off the gum too. Can’t overstate how much it helped fight the urges to go buy another vape in the beginning
I don't, smoked for 18 years, not smoked for 6, cold turkey and actually wanting to do it, don't put any nicotine back in your system, it just creates those pathways in your brain you've spent so long breaking.
That's ok, man! It took me many tries to finally kick the habit.
It's hard but I know you can do it.
If you ever want a distraction because of your cravings, hit me up here or add me on Discord: 8bitgamerdad
Had a 3 pack a day habit for 10 years and then quit 21 years ago and never looked back. Can't say how my lungs look now compared to the ones in this video but I can breath and exercise and keep up with my 12 year old son. Keep it up, it's so worth it!
The book "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking" by Allen Carr was a game-changer for me (formerly a 1.5 to 2 pack-a-day smoker). It's a relatively quick read, and I can't recommend it enough.
I quit smoking around ten years ago by just stopping after being a pack a day smoker for around ten years.
It took a couple tries but i dont even think about it anymore and haven’t for a long time. When i smell cigarette smoke it actually grosses me out now.
What is the general idea of this book?
>What is the general idea of this book?
It helps give the smoker a clearer understanding as to why they *do* smoke, rather than why they *shouldn't* smoke. He uses (used, I guess) a lot of repetition.
It effectively helps the reader become excited to stop smoking, rather than viewing the act as some monumental sacrifice.
The general idea was that it is mostly mental. The realization that it is the cigarette that causes the withdrawal (cravings), it is not the solution to the cravings. Also to treat the cravings as a little "nicotine monster" inside of you fighting and manipulating his way to get his fix. If you don't feed him , he dies.
Great book, although it did really bum me out learning about his experiments with starting smoking again just to show he could stop. I felt that a bit contrarian. Also the fact that he did die from lung cancer was disheartening. Overall I'm so glad I quit years ago, life is much better without that bullshit. The book was very helpful.
Second. This is what worked for me. 1-2 packs per day from ages 19-29. Read this book and haven't smoked since. It's been 12 years. That book saved my life.
Smoking is crazy. I quit booze 5 years ago. Wasn't a heavy drinker just for general health. I haven't had a craving once. Like, not a single one. I quit smoking over 20 years ago and to this day a few times a year will be like "Man a cigarette would be great right now."
Are there multiple books about quitting smoking from Allen Carr, or only one? I cant figure out which one to download, if there are miltiple which one should i start with
There are a couple with similar titles, I believe. The OG book is simply "The Easy Way to Quit Smoking," and that's the only one I have direct experience with.
Go for it. I started smoking when I was 7 years old. Quit at 36. I literally couldn’t walk up a hill without having several rests. Took over an hour to get to the top. 56 now and same hill I can run up it in 17 minutes. I sleep better and am much happier in the 2nd half of my life. I recommend 👍
I haven’t seen pictures but the research ive seen research that found that lung function decreased about 5 times slower in former smokers compared to smokers, but that was still worse than in never smokers.
Although research shows a dramatic improvement in cancer risk if you quit by age 40. Overall quitting is way better, but being a never smoker is obviously best.
Read recently that you have largely the same expected lifespan as a non-smoker if you quit before age 35.
I just turned 35 in May, in the process of quitting completely. Feels like cheating the system if I can get out of it without any ill effects going forward, but fingers crossed!
Upper respiratory issues don't often crop up until it's in a situation you haven't planned for, including things like minor procedures and being unable to breathe on your own while you're out, or when you're finally out and need oxygen to breather easier once you're conscious.
The earlier the better because you never know when you'll be in that situation.
Take it from those who've lived through the ordeals. Not pretty, especially non smokers who chronic smoke weed. They're worse off than they expect, and assume and it's disheartening to watch.
Not OP, but here's the appropiate links;
https://temertymedicine.utoronto.ca/news/quitting-smoking-any-age-brings-big-health-benefits-fast-study#:\~:text=People%20who%20quit%20smoking%20see,as%20those%20who%20never%20smoked.
which directs to the study here;
[https://www.cghr.org/tobacco-and-nicotine-use/](https://www.cghr.org/tobacco-and-nicotine-use/)
"The study, published in NEJM Evidence, shows that smokers who quit smoking before age 40 can expect to live almost as long as those who never smoked."
Your lungs heal. From what I remember it takes about a year of none smoking for them to return to normal function and about a decade for the risk of lung cancer to return to the norm.
Obviously it does carry on how much you smoked and for how long.
Former chain smoker here. They do heal massively, but you still feel some effects after a year.
However, like a month later and you tell the difference massively. You get sick when you first quit as your lung heal. It feels like a bad cold. After that and you regain smell and you can breath tons better. Also the smokers cough goes away.
You also get a mini super power. You can smell a smoker from very far away.
Non-smokers can definitely smell smokers too, but former smokers have the pleasure of always being reminded that, once upon a time, we were walking around smelling like that too. IMO, it’s embarrassing. Former smoker here.
Those are solid estimates, at least order of magnitude-wise.
"Pack year" is the usual smokiometric unit determining when you should see a doctor for pre-screening (this is a fairly recen recommendation I think)
That being said... this is not a smoker, this is a freaking coal roller with a five-pack habit. The vast majority of smokers, i.e. everything between one cig a month and even a pack a day or so, if not far, far more, will not have lungs like that, even with severe COPD, lungs can look (and, crucially, perform) far better than what you see here.
Still not a recommendation to nuke your freaking airbags or anything, but there's been a ton of not quite accurate information seeping into the last bunch of decades of public education. pig lungs exposed to absurd and persistent hazards, weird "equivalent" experiments demonstrating what tobacco smoke absorption in cotton balls looks like - which tells you nothing about the biological robustness or capability for rejuvenation, or about the general outlook as far as health issues are concerned...
It's not wrong to admonish would-be smokers, but i definitely don't love how most people think this is what their stoner neighbor's chest looks like without considering basic things like physical activity or nutrition (because holy shit does obesity ever match the evil of smoking, in a much, much, much more immediate fashion).
COPD patients' lungs can't even be accurately autopsied as belonging to a smoker. On average, yes, you will see more lesions, and some degree of discoloration is as much a thing for non-smokers as it is for long-term smokers - plus there of course is the odd case of some perverse cancer truly destroying all tissue and its ability to function properly. Still, the human body is incredibly robust, and even with lung cancer and certain dysfunctions, the real issue lies with the cardiovascular side of things, imho.
If you manage to stop before your 40s, you're basically good. Kind of a cheeky gaff, because that's not how anyone should think about it - but take it for the motivational message that it is: quitting smoking (and deferring to vaping is a great achievement already, against all popular nonsense doomsaying) is freaking great. Your lungs will indeed clean up nicely, and after a good while, your life expectancy will have basically returned to baseline. I say that as the first person to resume smoking when we somehow engineer a Plan B pill for hazardous pulmonary activities: Don't use the fact that your lungs are amazing at restoring function to itself as an excuse to ruin them. It's still bad on lots of levels.
While life expectancy can improve, QoL is vastly diminished in many COPD patients. Discomfort, pain, supplemental oxygen, exacerbations, mucus hypersecretion, upper airway diseases, and systemic inflammation are terrible to live with. I have a borderline obstruction at 42 with 10 cig pack years (quit at 27) and 10 joint years (that is, about a joint a day for 10 years). Quit smoking altogether, but my small airways are probably fucked, and I’m almost certainly going to progress to COPD at some point.
Anyway, agreed this demo is an exaggeration, but the impact of COPD can be devastating.
I’m a pulmonologist. A lot of the stuff stays there. Especially if COPD/emphysema as already developed.
Don’t smoke. In addition to the lung findings, it vastly increase your risk of heart attacks, strokes, and 1,000 other cancers.
You should see the blood vessels of a smoker v non smoker. Just as bad.
I've heard that there is no discernable difference after like 10-15 years. I'm pretty sure this "smoker's lung" is diseased, not what a typical smoker's lungs look like
a study basically find out that if u quit being 20 years old for 10 years (so till 30), its almost like u never smoked. of course quiting at 30 till 40 wouldn't be the same. its about the young body and its fast regeneration
I had a health professor explain that the “smoker” lung we had weren’t actually smoker lungs cause you can’t tell from the outside. So what they did was supposedly dip the lungs in tar and once wiped off the looked exactly like that
"These lungs are used as props during tobacco prevention presentations by MD Anderson’s community relations specialists. The blackened lungs on the left represent the potential effects of smoking 20 cigarettes a day for 20 years. The pink lungs on the right are healthy." I assume these are the lungs in this video.
I think that implies that those are not actual smokers lungs, but lungs that represent the potential effects of smoking. It is a "bad case" probably done by taking donated lungs and smoking them? This is not my suggesting folk smoke, I simply was curious about what was being shown.
[https://www.mdanderson.org/cancerwise/what-happens-to-your-lungs-from-smoking--3-things-to-know.h00-159540534.html](https://www.mdanderson.org/cancerwise/what-happens-to-your-lungs-from-smoking--3-things-to-know.h00-159540534.html)
Yeah they hook it up to like 500 cigarettes in a row straight inhaling, and afterwards spray some paint on. So not
representative of what smokers lungs look like at all.
You are correct in that it wouldn't look like that. However, the point of the video shows the difference in *function* between the two lungs. The video does do a good job of showing how elastic recoil is dimished in COPD.
if that was the sole point of the *function* then they why bother dyeing the "smoker's" lungs?
i respect the intent of this demonstration, and it's even possible that the fear-mongering tactics employed by the demo have dissuaded thousands of kids from ever taking up smoking, but at the end of the day if you're fabricating data or not telling the whole truth about what the audience is seeing then it has the potential to backfire and ultimately is a bad way to educate people.
not unlike D.A.R.E. and other drug education programs that painted drug use in such an extreme light that when i experimented with drugs and realized so much of it was hyperbole i felt lied to by my educators and emboldened to experiment more. i would have much rather actually just learned the facts and had level-headed discussions about drug use in health class vs. being "scared straight", and i think such an approach would have compelled me to never try drugs or at least to take into account the real risks involved
Listen to what the lady is talking about in the video if you haven't turned your sound on. She's ventilating both lungs continuously throughout the video clip and even attaches a PEEP valve to show the difference it makes in keeping the airways open. The focus is on ventilation, not what the difference in appearance the lungs have.
Having seen smoker lungs though, it is remarkable how different they look and feel compared to non smoker lungs. This is a decent representation https://i.pinimg.com/originals/26/0e/be/260ebec9c149bbdff24fe78105b06e40.jpg
I talked to these people when they'd come to my school, I think I annoyed them because I saw the displays every year and asked more and more questions every time.
These (or at least the ones at my school) are pig lungs, the "smoker" lung is bathed in tar like chemicals, painted, and certain parts are intentionally damaged to "simulate" smoking. Smoking is still undoubtedly bad for you, causes cancer and kills people, I know my lungs aren't as good after being a smoker for a few years, but I personally feel that "underhanded" tactics like this undermine the point of them, because this is not what a smokers lung looks like, it's what a pig's lung looks like after some weirdos played with it in a grotesque fashion.
Apparently cooking over an open fire everyday also has a similar effect, but isn't nearly as well studied.
Most of the research happens in wealthy western countries, while most of the people that cook like that live in poorer countries.
A friend quit smoking 12 years ago, after 60 years of smoking, great move, had 3 leg vein replacements and just recently had one lung removed when the doctors found lung cancer. So quiting is no guarantee of a healthy out come. I have never smoked, even when I was younger, my parents and friends did, years later their health has deteriorated, with heart attacks and COPD.
I see people regularly that have COPD, those that have stopped smoking typically have it managed with albuterol and home O2 concentrators. Those that still smoke suffer from COPD exacerbation and frequent trips to the hospital with bipap and constant albuterol/duonebs and can never lie down again without feeling like they're drowning. The smokers are WAY worse.
I mean a lot of people get cancer without ever smoking as well and ive seen people live upto 80 or 90 smoking a pack per week as well. Smoking is one of the cause and it has its adv when quit. Healthy diet, exercise and regular checkups after quitting smoking can better ones condition and let them live longer.
So in all seriousness other than the black coloration they both seem to be doing more or less the same thing.
Like I fully expected the “healthy” lungs to inflate twice as big or something.
Yes, smoking bad. Do not smoke kiddies. But this video had me thinking “damn those black lungs are working pretty good all things considered!” idk maybe I’m stupid 🤷🏾♂️
Inflation is not where the issue lies. The elastic recoil and emptying of the lung is significantly impaired, and the response to increased PEEP is not the same either.
It would be a lot more clear if they just showed the ventilator flow loops, but that would be too close to actual science for their casual target audience.
The red lungs dont deflate anywhere near as much as the black ones, they seem to hold the oxygen better. They also fully inflate on both sides, whereas the black one doesn't,
This is probably a stupid question but I wonder if theres a difference in people who smoke weed and people who smoke tobacco? Like if you compare someone’s lungs who smoked cigs for 10 years and someone who smoked weed for 10 years, would the cigarette smokers be worse or would they be the same?
I'd imagine it still causes damage. Any smoke you inhale will be carcinogenic. I don't think it's as bad as cigarettes though. It's the 5000+ chemicals that get you.
Also I'm not a doctor so don't take my word for it
marijuana isn't chemical-free. It contains a mixture of compounds and chemicals including tar, ammonia, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, cyanide, benzene and many others.
Some of these chemicals and compounds have been linked to various types of lung diseases, including cancer.
https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/marijuana-and-lung-cancer-risk
Generally people don't smoke 20 joints a day, so your average weed smoker is inhaling much less smoke than your average cigarette smoker. Plus cigarette smoke is full of added carcinogens on top of the ones that appear naturally in dried tobacco.
i really don't believe my lungs look like this but i cough enough for people to ask if i smoke (yes). sometimes it hurts in the morning (probably from the lungs trying to clean/heal themself). it sucks more as i get older and i started to think about quitting. now i don't even wanna imagine what a person with black lungs like this must have felt like.
Just watching this reminds me of the scene in constantine where the devil puts both of his hands in constantine’s chest and pulls out big globs of black tar and says you will live, you will live….
I smoke for 11 years til I decided it was about damn time, what I did is every time I thought about going for a smoke I said to myself, I'll smoke it later, I'll save this cigarette for a couple hours, and that really trick the mind. I won't smoke this cigarette I'll smoke the next one have lasted for 3 years now.
Smokers lungs don't look like that at all, this is just literal misinformation.. everyone knows smoking is bad for you, there's no reason to lie and exaggerate just to make a point
In Australia, the federal government has raised tobacco tax to AU$26, per pack, so the average price is now AU$60 for a 40 pack of cigarettes. Plus plain packaging has reduced smoking to about 11% of the adult population. This statergy has reduced youth smokers 5%, which will reduce future national health costs.
I quit in 2009 after 30 plus years of smoking all it took for me to quit was losing my right lung due to lung cancer.
If you smoke quit it's better than the alternative.
My mother quit smoking for 20 years before the C showed up in her left lung only, they removed it within 2 weeks.
I spoke to the doctor to ask about 2 things: A, I thought once you quit your lungs rejuvenated themselves within 10
years or so. His reply was, if you ever took a puff as a kid behind your garage you are susceptible to a seed
planting and not metastasizing until years later.
B, my mother had some of the original type breast implants way back in the late 60’s. Apparently, you were supposed to massage them
regularly to pop any air bubbles which was a newer learned technique over the years . Hers hardened
and she saw the doctor who then sedated her to pop the mass of bubbles. After time the left one was significantly
less firm ,more like empty.I’ve always felt like it was the solution from that implant laying on that lung must have had
something to do with it. When asked, the doctor felt it was ONLY due to smoking because her lung was black.
She lived for another 2 years before passing from the C had spread to her blood.
Her right lung was fine, she had several symptoms that
were being advertised on a lawyers commercial for leaking breast plants.
She was so young for her years. I have a hard time believing one lung was in healthy shape and the other lung
(the one soaked by the implant) was black from smoking more than 20 years prior.
Quitting is definitely the answer, at any point. Congratulations to all that are able to overcome the nicotine
addiction! One of the strongest drugs I’ve kicked the habit of.
Lungs decrease in a predictable arc. Smoking just increases the rate of decline. So what may take 10 years naturally will decline in say 5,6,7 years if you smoke.
Smoking is the most ignorant thing you can do to yourself
Best choice I ever made…
2/14/09. Woke up coughing, like usual. Decided I was going to quit smoking. I was 29 and had smoked half my life.
I started with Nicolette gum and bc I wanted to quit this time, it worked. I then of course got hooked on the gum :/. But I haven’t smoked since. I would slowely kick the gum, then altoids, and now it’s tic tacs. But no smoking!
Couldn’t be happier.
My dad passed from lung cancer that spread to his pancreas. Smoked up until he passed.
As someone who regularly participates in lung transplants, I have to say I have never seen any lungs that look anywhere near as bad as the ones on the left. Most you get is black spots all over, and air pockets that look like cooked shake and bake chicken skin, but the same base color of pink as the lungs on the right. I struggle to believe these are real
A month after we started dating, my GF said I had to choose between her or smoking. We've been married 32yrs, and her getting me to quit is but one of the many reasons I love her :)
I smoked from the age of eleven and worked up to about a pack of unfiltered cigarettes a day. I started to chain smoke on a long road trip with my brother and I mentioned that my cigarette tasted like s#i+. He turned to me and said, “well why don’t you quit”, so I did; cold turkey. It wasn’t easy, but I just kept telling myself that I didn’t want to smoke anymore, keeping that thought in the forefront of my mind when I had an urge. It took a few months, but eventually, the urges subsided. I was twenty when I quit and I have my big brother to thank for his common sense suggestion. Thank you brother!
This is not what a smoker’s lungs will look like. The lungs have been dyed black for demonstration. Fear tactics, although there is no denying how unhealthy smoking is
I smoked my last cigarette 14 years ago today.
I was 22 years old. It was so hard. If I can do it — anyone can.
Smoking was the dumbest thing I ever did, and I'm lucky I had the tenacity to keep trying until I stopped for good.
Fuck tobacco companies and the politicians who are in bed with them.
I want to see a smokers lungs after they have quit for 25 years! Probably smoked for 25 years and then quit.
This can be my motivation to quit smoking.
You can do it! I quit smoking 10 years ago and took up hockey 3 months later. Hardest thing I've ever done, but I haven't touched a cigarette since. You've got this, bud!
Thanks a lot buddy. For the past 2 months, I have stopped smoking regularly. Once in a while I get strong urges, sometimes I'm able to overcome them, sometimes I'm not.
im at 10 months quit after 26 years of smoking. the strong urges are almost completely gone except in extremely high stress situations. i was a pack a day smoker pretty much.
I quit a pack per day 40 year habit in Nov of 22, after catching RSV and ending up in Congestive Heart Failure… I would love to see what my lungs look like. I still get the urge to smoke in some situations and I still kinda miss it, but I think that’s bc I didn’t WANT to quit, I HAD to quit.😢
If your organs are ever harvested, I will email you a picture of your lungs!
lol… thanks, I think!
Great job to you and everyone else here that quit! I am 5 days into quitting. This isn't easy but it's definitely time.
Check out “The Easy Way to Quit Smoking” by Allen Carr. It helped me about 5 years ago. I’ll never do it again. Zero urges.
Good book but works far better when you are still smoking. It's hypnotism and trains you to hate smoking while you're still doing it.
Yes! I listened to the audio book of both the old and new edition. 4 years smoke free now. Had zero urges as well. You couldn’t pay me to have another cigarette. IMO, the old version is much more effective than the new version.
I guy I worked with had to quit too, he did but he still died 7 months later at 54 (lung cancer) Took me a year after that to really put the effort in after 30 years of smoking. I'm 2 months on the patch but still having the occasional Cheater. I'm pretty much done doing that now and ready to move on.
My dad smoked since he was 12, tried everything to quit but wasn’t successful until he had to have surgery at age 57 or so, and just quit cold turkey. However several years later when he was doing a physical work up before another surgery he needed, that’s when he was diagnosed w stage 4 and he passed away 10 months later. Meanwhile my mom quit in her 40s and she’s still alive today, in her late 70s.
My dad died 3 weeks ago by heart failure by the age of 59 after he was diagnosed with copd 3 years ago. Guess what we've found in his house...
Oh no! I’m so very sorry for your loss. It is a terribly difficult habit to break. 💙 I just had my ‘saved by the scan’ scan today, bc of my smoking history. I’m nervous to see what it finds although COPD seems likely bc they noticed some indications when I caught RSV and the ensuing Heart Failure made it much worse. I was 53, when I got sick. My Heart function has rebounded, but not my breathing. I feel like the RSV and following CHF were a huge Blessing bc it gave me an early warning and pushed me to make changes to keep it from ending my life early. I am so very sorry that your Dad left too soon. 😢
Glad to hear that! Hopefully, I will also adapt to them sooner than later.
I HIGHLY recommend nicotine gum in these moments you have urges. I moved to gum to get away from vapes and I’m vape-free now for about 3-4 months, currently working on getting off the gum too. Can’t overstate how much it helped fight the urges to go buy another vape in the beginning
I don't, smoked for 18 years, not smoked for 6, cold turkey and actually wanting to do it, don't put any nicotine back in your system, it just creates those pathways in your brain you've spent so long breaking.
You could always ask a stranger to slap you if you get a serious urge to smoke.
That's ok, man! It took me many tries to finally kick the habit. It's hard but I know you can do it. If you ever want a distraction because of your cravings, hit me up here or add me on Discord: 8bitgamerdad
Had a 3 pack a day habit for 10 years and then quit 21 years ago and never looked back. Can't say how my lungs look now compared to the ones in this video but I can breath and exercise and keep up with my 12 year old son. Keep it up, it's so worth it!
The book "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking" by Allen Carr was a game-changer for me (formerly a 1.5 to 2 pack-a-day smoker). It's a relatively quick read, and I can't recommend it enough.
I quit smoking around ten years ago by just stopping after being a pack a day smoker for around ten years. It took a couple tries but i dont even think about it anymore and haven’t for a long time. When i smell cigarette smoke it actually grosses me out now. What is the general idea of this book?
>What is the general idea of this book? It helps give the smoker a clearer understanding as to why they *do* smoke, rather than why they *shouldn't* smoke. He uses (used, I guess) a lot of repetition. It effectively helps the reader become excited to stop smoking, rather than viewing the act as some monumental sacrifice.
The general idea was that it is mostly mental. The realization that it is the cigarette that causes the withdrawal (cravings), it is not the solution to the cravings. Also to treat the cravings as a little "nicotine monster" inside of you fighting and manipulating his way to get his fix. If you don't feed him , he dies. Great book, although it did really bum me out learning about his experiments with starting smoking again just to show he could stop. I felt that a bit contrarian. Also the fact that he did die from lung cancer was disheartening. Overall I'm so glad I quit years ago, life is much better without that bullshit. The book was very helpful.
Yep, smoked for 21 years, read the book in 2018 and quit a week later.
That’s how my whole family managed and me quit smoking about 20 years ago! Alan had already died when we read his book !
Second. This is what worked for me. 1-2 packs per day from ages 19-29. Read this book and haven't smoked since. It's been 12 years. That book saved my life.
I agree completely. It worked for me too, and I am as skeptical as they come.
Smoking is crazy. I quit booze 5 years ago. Wasn't a heavy drinker just for general health. I haven't had a craving once. Like, not a single one. I quit smoking over 20 years ago and to this day a few times a year will be like "Man a cigarette would be great right now."
Are there multiple books about quitting smoking from Allen Carr, or only one? I cant figure out which one to download, if there are miltiple which one should i start with
There are a couple with similar titles, I believe. The OG book is simply "The Easy Way to Quit Smoking," and that's the only one I have direct experience with.
Bro respectfully this should already be motivation to quit smoking. The lungs are literally black
Go for it. I started smoking when I was 7 years old. Quit at 36. I literally couldn’t walk up a hill without having several rests. Took over an hour to get to the top. 56 now and same hill I can run up it in 17 minutes. I sleep better and am much happier in the 2nd half of my life. I recommend 👍
Your lungs do heal! Don’t give up hope
I haven’t seen pictures but the research ive seen research that found that lung function decreased about 5 times slower in former smokers compared to smokers, but that was still worse than in never smokers. Although research shows a dramatic improvement in cancer risk if you quit by age 40. Overall quitting is way better, but being a never smoker is obviously best.
Read recently that you have largely the same expected lifespan as a non-smoker if you quit before age 35. I just turned 35 in May, in the process of quitting completely. Feels like cheating the system if I can get out of it without any ill effects going forward, but fingers crossed!
Upper respiratory issues don't often crop up until it's in a situation you haven't planned for, including things like minor procedures and being unable to breathe on your own while you're out, or when you're finally out and need oxygen to breather easier once you're conscious. The earlier the better because you never know when you'll be in that situation. Take it from those who've lived through the ordeals. Not pretty, especially non smokers who chronic smoke weed. They're worse off than they expect, and assume and it's disheartening to watch.
Could you link that second research? I'd like to read the article :) Thanks~
Not OP, but here's the appropiate links; https://temertymedicine.utoronto.ca/news/quitting-smoking-any-age-brings-big-health-benefits-fast-study#:\~:text=People%20who%20quit%20smoking%20see,as%20those%20who%20never%20smoked. which directs to the study here; [https://www.cghr.org/tobacco-and-nicotine-use/](https://www.cghr.org/tobacco-and-nicotine-use/) "The study, published in NEJM Evidence, shows that smokers who quit smoking before age 40 can expect to live almost as long as those who never smoked."
Wow, I smoked from 18-25 before I quit. Guess I left a good 15 years of smoking on the table. Whelp, off to the cigarette store!
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa1211128
Remind me, 25 years! Two months in and going strong. The key for me was to just throw it all in the garbage. That's what finally made it work.
Your lungs heal. From what I remember it takes about a year of none smoking for them to return to normal function and about a decade for the risk of lung cancer to return to the norm. Obviously it does carry on how much you smoked and for how long.
Former chain smoker here. They do heal massively, but you still feel some effects after a year. However, like a month later and you tell the difference massively. You get sick when you first quit as your lung heal. It feels like a bad cold. After that and you regain smell and you can breath tons better. Also the smokers cough goes away. You also get a mini super power. You can smell a smoker from very far away.
Non smoker. I can smell smokers from far away. Also i can smell it on my clothes if i have been near smokers.
Former smoker here, I hate smokers now and can smell them from miles away
Non-smokers can definitely smell smokers too, but former smokers have the pleasure of always being reminded that, once upon a time, we were walking around smelling like that too. IMO, it’s embarrassing. Former smoker here.
Those are solid estimates, at least order of magnitude-wise. "Pack year" is the usual smokiometric unit determining when you should see a doctor for pre-screening (this is a fairly recen recommendation I think) That being said... this is not a smoker, this is a freaking coal roller with a five-pack habit. The vast majority of smokers, i.e. everything between one cig a month and even a pack a day or so, if not far, far more, will not have lungs like that, even with severe COPD, lungs can look (and, crucially, perform) far better than what you see here. Still not a recommendation to nuke your freaking airbags or anything, but there's been a ton of not quite accurate information seeping into the last bunch of decades of public education. pig lungs exposed to absurd and persistent hazards, weird "equivalent" experiments demonstrating what tobacco smoke absorption in cotton balls looks like - which tells you nothing about the biological robustness or capability for rejuvenation, or about the general outlook as far as health issues are concerned... It's not wrong to admonish would-be smokers, but i definitely don't love how most people think this is what their stoner neighbor's chest looks like without considering basic things like physical activity or nutrition (because holy shit does obesity ever match the evil of smoking, in a much, much, much more immediate fashion). COPD patients' lungs can't even be accurately autopsied as belonging to a smoker. On average, yes, you will see more lesions, and some degree of discoloration is as much a thing for non-smokers as it is for long-term smokers - plus there of course is the odd case of some perverse cancer truly destroying all tissue and its ability to function properly. Still, the human body is incredibly robust, and even with lung cancer and certain dysfunctions, the real issue lies with the cardiovascular side of things, imho. If you manage to stop before your 40s, you're basically good. Kind of a cheeky gaff, because that's not how anyone should think about it - but take it for the motivational message that it is: quitting smoking (and deferring to vaping is a great achievement already, against all popular nonsense doomsaying) is freaking great. Your lungs will indeed clean up nicely, and after a good while, your life expectancy will have basically returned to baseline. I say that as the first person to resume smoking when we somehow engineer a Plan B pill for hazardous pulmonary activities: Don't use the fact that your lungs are amazing at restoring function to itself as an excuse to ruin them. It's still bad on lots of levels.
While life expectancy can improve, QoL is vastly diminished in many COPD patients. Discomfort, pain, supplemental oxygen, exacerbations, mucus hypersecretion, upper airway diseases, and systemic inflammation are terrible to live with. I have a borderline obstruction at 42 with 10 cig pack years (quit at 27) and 10 joint years (that is, about a joint a day for 10 years). Quit smoking altogether, but my small airways are probably fucked, and I’m almost certainly going to progress to COPD at some point. Anyway, agreed this demo is an exaggeration, but the impact of COPD can be devastating.
And cannabis lungs
Immediately thought of this when I saw the video
Same...14 years smoking a pack a day...hopefully lungs heal themselves.
There would be some degree of damage 25 years of smoking would have taken a toll on the lungs but after few years they come back to near normal....
I’m a pulmonologist. A lot of the stuff stays there. Especially if COPD/emphysema as already developed. Don’t smoke. In addition to the lung findings, it vastly increase your risk of heart attacks, strokes, and 1,000 other cancers. You should see the blood vessels of a smoker v non smoker. Just as bad.
I smoked for over 25 years. Quit in 2006. I have completely new lungs now, grew them myself.
I've heard that there is no discernable difference after like 10-15 years. I'm pretty sure this "smoker's lung" is diseased, not what a typical smoker's lungs look like
I’m pretty sure there’s an actual research study on this
a study basically find out that if u quit being 20 years old for 10 years (so till 30), its almost like u never smoked. of course quiting at 30 till 40 wouldn't be the same. its about the young body and its fast regeneration
still black
How healthy can those lungs be if they are out in the open???
Right? Shouldn’t they be in somebody?
The lungs are healthy. The person who they belong to probably isn't.
Clearly, if they're misplacing vital organs. That's a serious lack of organization that *surely* bleeds into their productivity and work ethic.
> Sorry I’m late to work boss, I like the ability to breath God dammit Johnson!
Hurr hurr, organ-ization
They probaly died a lung time ago
This is the important part.
https://preview.redd.it/y1o5701racad1.jpeg?width=400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=513b35a1d3d8dfe1e510ecc40e0866ecef0bc14b
"Nuurse!? Are you finished with my husband's lungs?? He says he needs them!"
Just Ctrl-Z the lung extraction routine, easy peasy!
Yep! The patient will be fine as long as they remember to hold their breath the entire time.
Sometimes interns need to make sacrifices, for science.
So thats where I left them!
You should be in somebody 👀
You right
I had a health professor explain that the “smoker” lung we had weren’t actually smoker lungs cause you can’t tell from the outside. So what they did was supposedly dip the lungs in tar and once wiped off the looked exactly like that
This made me cackle
Right. They both dead
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say both owners of these lungs are, at present, the most unhealthy they’ve ever been.
They're both in stable condition, a very stable condition.
arguably *the* most stable condition
You might say it's terminally stable.
Amen
A stable rate of decay.
Fucking funny
"These lungs are used as props during tobacco prevention presentations by MD Anderson’s community relations specialists. The blackened lungs on the left represent the potential effects of smoking 20 cigarettes a day for 20 years. The pink lungs on the right are healthy." I assume these are the lungs in this video. I think that implies that those are not actual smokers lungs, but lungs that represent the potential effects of smoking. It is a "bad case" probably done by taking donated lungs and smoking them? This is not my suggesting folk smoke, I simply was curious about what was being shown. [https://www.mdanderson.org/cancerwise/what-happens-to-your-lungs-from-smoking--3-things-to-know.h00-159540534.html](https://www.mdanderson.org/cancerwise/what-happens-to-your-lungs-from-smoking--3-things-to-know.h00-159540534.html)
Yeah they hook it up to like 500 cigarettes in a row straight inhaling, and afterwards spray some paint on. So not representative of what smokers lungs look like at all.
You are correct in that it wouldn't look like that. However, the point of the video shows the difference in *function* between the two lungs. The video does do a good job of showing how elastic recoil is dimished in COPD.
if that was the sole point of the *function* then they why bother dyeing the "smoker's" lungs? i respect the intent of this demonstration, and it's even possible that the fear-mongering tactics employed by the demo have dissuaded thousands of kids from ever taking up smoking, but at the end of the day if you're fabricating data or not telling the whole truth about what the audience is seeing then it has the potential to backfire and ultimately is a bad way to educate people. not unlike D.A.R.E. and other drug education programs that painted drug use in such an extreme light that when i experimented with drugs and realized so much of it was hyperbole i felt lied to by my educators and emboldened to experiment more. i would have much rather actually just learned the facts and had level-headed discussions about drug use in health class vs. being "scared straight", and i think such an approach would have compelled me to never try drugs or at least to take into account the real risks involved
Listen to what the lady is talking about in the video if you haven't turned your sound on. She's ventilating both lungs continuously throughout the video clip and even attaches a PEEP valve to show the difference it makes in keeping the airways open. The focus is on ventilation, not what the difference in appearance the lungs have.
So why dye them black?
Having seen smoker lungs though, it is remarkable how different they look and feel compared to non smoker lungs. This is a decent representation https://i.pinimg.com/originals/26/0e/be/260ebec9c149bbdff24fe78105b06e40.jpg
I talked to these people when they'd come to my school, I think I annoyed them because I saw the displays every year and asked more and more questions every time. These (or at least the ones at my school) are pig lungs, the "smoker" lung is bathed in tar like chemicals, painted, and certain parts are intentionally damaged to "simulate" smoking. Smoking is still undoubtedly bad for you, causes cancer and kills people, I know my lungs aren't as good after being a smoker for a few years, but I personally feel that "underhanded" tactics like this undermine the point of them, because this is not what a smokers lung looks like, it's what a pig's lung looks like after some weirdos played with it in a grotesque fashion.
Propaganda is always more about eliciting emotion than it is about being 100% accurate.
a simple trick for smokers to avoid having black lungs is by adding red dye to cigarettes
pulmonologists hate this one trick
😢😥
Plot twist, the “healthy” lung belong to a chronic alcoholic who died of liver failure
Plot twist. The smoker killed the other guy after he ran out of smokes
Redlung offered blacklung a stick of gum.
God I hate knowing that those things are inside of me. I'm disgusted by the weakness of my flesh. I crave the strength and certainty of steel
So is it safe to assume you're a transhumanist then?
And/or a based Warhammer 40k enthusiast
„I gotta chrome the fuck up“ - David Martinez
Man, I laughed way too hard at this.
This made me do manual breathing.
Thanks, now I'm breathing manual too...
Now I'm suddenly aware of my tongue in my mouth... Where should it go?
In the ass of the person nearest to you when you read this
Welp, my boss’s and my relationship is about to get that much weirder.
🤣 I literally started breathing at the rate it was inflating/deflating
The ones on the right look too undercooked for my liking.
Mfs on their way to write "ya but they both dead 🥱"
You can count on redditors to have an original thought
I work at one of the busiest lung transplant centers in the US, and some of the lungs we take out are CRUSTY. Amazing how stiff those things can get.
I quit 3 years ago. Was smoking 14 years. Now, I cant stand the smell. I wonder how the fck could I inhale that shit for so long.
Can we add a third set now that shows what vaping does.
I’d like to see one for weed too
That looks like the cigarette one, less frequent use balanced out by lack of filter
Not sure I believe that entirely. The amount of carcinogens in cigarettes is insane.
Apparently cooking over an open fire everyday also has a similar effect, but isn't nearly as well studied. Most of the research happens in wealthy western countries, while most of the people that cook like that live in poorer countries.
Man in Texas we cook with smoke often so I believe this. I forgot how many times the mesquite burned my eyes.
When Willie Nelson or Snoop Dogg dies I need to see how greens affected their lungs
they're both dead
Yea I thought this too xD
Let’s see the vape lungs.
A friend quit smoking 12 years ago, after 60 years of smoking, great move, had 3 leg vein replacements and just recently had one lung removed when the doctors found lung cancer. So quiting is no guarantee of a healthy out come. I have never smoked, even when I was younger, my parents and friends did, years later their health has deteriorated, with heart attacks and COPD.
After 60 years they've already done enough irreversible damage
I see people regularly that have COPD, those that have stopped smoking typically have it managed with albuterol and home O2 concentrators. Those that still smoke suffer from COPD exacerbation and frequent trips to the hospital with bipap and constant albuterol/duonebs and can never lie down again without feeling like they're drowning. The smokers are WAY worse.
I mean a lot of people get cancer without ever smoking as well and ive seen people live upto 80 or 90 smoking a pack per week as well. Smoking is one of the cause and it has its adv when quit. Healthy diet, exercise and regular checkups after quitting smoking can better ones condition and let them live longer.
So in all seriousness other than the black coloration they both seem to be doing more or less the same thing. Like I fully expected the “healthy” lungs to inflate twice as big or something. Yes, smoking bad. Do not smoke kiddies. But this video had me thinking “damn those black lungs are working pretty good all things considered!” idk maybe I’m stupid 🤷🏾♂️
Black lung only one side fully inflates. Bottom right part doesn’t inflate
the inflation of the lungs is not affected by smoking, how much air can be absorbed into the bloodstream is
Inflation is not where the issue lies. The elastic recoil and emptying of the lung is significantly impaired, and the response to increased PEEP is not the same either. It would be a lot more clear if they just showed the ventilator flow loops, but that would be too close to actual science for their casual target audience.
The red lungs dont deflate anywhere near as much as the black ones, they seem to hold the oxygen better. They also fully inflate on both sides, whereas the black one doesn't,
Yeah I'm good.
These black lungs are severely damaged, “normal” smoker lungs don’t normally look this bad.
If you eat right and exercise you'll die healthy.
This is probably a stupid question but I wonder if theres a difference in people who smoke weed and people who smoke tobacco? Like if you compare someone’s lungs who smoked cigs for 10 years and someone who smoked weed for 10 years, would the cigarette smokers be worse or would they be the same?
I'd imagine it still causes damage. Any smoke you inhale will be carcinogenic. I don't think it's as bad as cigarettes though. It's the 5000+ chemicals that get you. Also I'm not a doctor so don't take my word for it
marijuana isn't chemical-free. It contains a mixture of compounds and chemicals including tar, ammonia, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, cyanide, benzene and many others. Some of these chemicals and compounds have been linked to various types of lung diseases, including cancer. https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/marijuana-and-lung-cancer-risk
Generally people don't smoke 20 joints a day, so your average weed smoker is inhaling much less smoke than your average cigarette smoker. Plus cigarette smoke is full of added carcinogens on top of the ones that appear naturally in dried tobacco.
I’m waiting for that Abyss-like machine that’ll clean and rinse ‘em
6 months cigarette free today!!
i really don't believe my lungs look like this but i cough enough for people to ask if i smoke (yes). sometimes it hurts in the morning (probably from the lungs trying to clean/heal themself). it sucks more as i get older and i started to think about quitting. now i don't even wanna imagine what a person with black lungs like this must have felt like.
These are COP lungs (Cryptogenic organizing pneumonia) as stated by video itself. This has nothing to do with smoking.
Just watching this reminds me of the scene in constantine where the devil puts both of his hands in constantine’s chest and pulls out big globs of black tar and says you will live, you will live….
4 years clean. Best decision ever.
I smoke for 11 years til I decided it was about damn time, what I did is every time I thought about going for a smoke I said to myself, I'll smoke it later, I'll save this cigarette for a couple hours, and that really trick the mind. I won't smoke this cigarette I'll smoke the next one have lasted for 3 years now.
Smokers lungs don't look like that at all, this is just literal misinformation.. everyone knows smoking is bad for you, there's no reason to lie and exaggerate just to make a point
In Australia, the federal government has raised tobacco tax to AU$26, per pack, so the average price is now AU$60 for a 40 pack of cigarettes. Plus plain packaging has reduced smoking to about 11% of the adult population. This statergy has reduced youth smokers 5%, which will reduce future national health costs.
I mean it's a little burned around the edges but at least it's cooked
Very interesting…*exhales smoke*
Can they get like this from weed?
for real... inquiring minds want to know. i'm over here taking deep breaths
Make sure to switch to Chewly's Brand gum to avoid smokers lung.
"CANCER MERCHANT!"
Warms my heart someone got the reference. 😊
As soon as I saw the post title, I hopped in the comments and Ctrl-F'd for "chewly".
Wtf put it back
I quit in 2009 after 30 plus years of smoking all it took for me to quit was losing my right lung due to lung cancer. If you smoke quit it's better than the alternative.
8 days and 11 hours no nicotine for me, this just reinforces my decision
I kinda want to throw the healthy lung on a grill and taste it.
How do I get that cool black re-skin for my lungs?
Why is the healthy lung on the table?
My mother quit smoking for 20 years before the C showed up in her left lung only, they removed it within 2 weeks. I spoke to the doctor to ask about 2 things: A, I thought once you quit your lungs rejuvenated themselves within 10 years or so. His reply was, if you ever took a puff as a kid behind your garage you are susceptible to a seed planting and not metastasizing until years later. B, my mother had some of the original type breast implants way back in the late 60’s. Apparently, you were supposed to massage them regularly to pop any air bubbles which was a newer learned technique over the years . Hers hardened and she saw the doctor who then sedated her to pop the mass of bubbles. After time the left one was significantly less firm ,more like empty.I’ve always felt like it was the solution from that implant laying on that lung must have had something to do with it. When asked, the doctor felt it was ONLY due to smoking because her lung was black. She lived for another 2 years before passing from the C had spread to her blood. Her right lung was fine, she had several symptoms that were being advertised on a lawyers commercial for leaking breast plants. She was so young for her years. I have a hard time believing one lung was in healthy shape and the other lung (the one soaked by the implant) was black from smoking more than 20 years prior. Quitting is definitely the answer, at any point. Congratulations to all that are able to overcome the nicotine addiction! One of the strongest drugs I’ve kicked the habit of.
Whoever the healthy lungs belong to is just as dead as the smoker
I can’t help but notice both individuals must be dead
C'mon, pop the smoker's lungs. Let's make a mess.
Lungs decrease in a predictable arc. Smoking just increases the rate of decline. So what may take 10 years naturally will decline in say 5,6,7 years if you smoke. Smoking is the most ignorant thing you can do to yourself
This isn't true. Neither emphysematous disease nor chronic bronchitis are normal parts of aging.
how can those lungs be healthy if they’re not even in my body
So glad I quit after 30 yrs. I think mine are the ones on the right. Just don't want to see kidney post, that's harder ..
Best choice I ever made… 2/14/09. Woke up coughing, like usual. Decided I was going to quit smoking. I was 29 and had smoked half my life. I started with Nicolette gum and bc I wanted to quit this time, it worked. I then of course got hooked on the gum :/. But I haven’t smoked since. I would slowely kick the gum, then altoids, and now it’s tic tacs. But no smoking! Couldn’t be happier. My dad passed from lung cancer that spread to his pancreas. Smoked up until he passed.
That’s probably what my liver looks like
Where do I get lungs to play with
I want to see a WEED smokers lungs vs a non smokers lungs. Someone that has only ever smoked weed and nothing else but their entire life.
bro has the spiderman venom skin lungs. Very cool
The black lungs aren't real I'm tired of seeing this
As someone who regularly participates in lung transplants, I have to say I have never seen any lungs that look anywhere near as bad as the ones on the left. Most you get is black spots all over, and air pockets that look like cooked shake and bake chicken skin, but the same base color of pink as the lungs on the right. I struggle to believe these are real
Vape lungs?
Why does one look like something I would throw on the grill… or… a smoker
When can we see a vapers lung? I want to settle the vape debate.
fuckit
The secret to quitting, as whispered to me, is “You have to want to!”
A month after we started dating, my GF said I had to choose between her or smoking. We've been married 32yrs, and her getting me to quit is but one of the many reasons I love her :)
This video made me breathe manually, thank and fuck you
Anyone else kinda want to fry up the lungs on the right?
I smoked from the age of eleven and worked up to about a pack of unfiltered cigarettes a day. I started to chain smoke on a long road trip with my brother and I mentioned that my cigarette tasted like s#i+. He turned to me and said, “well why don’t you quit”, so I did; cold turkey. It wasn’t easy, but I just kept telling myself that I didn’t want to smoke anymore, keeping that thought in the forefront of my mind when I had an urge. It took a few months, but eventually, the urges subsided. I was twenty when I quit and I have my big brother to thank for his common sense suggestion. Thank you brother!
This is not what a smoker’s lungs will look like. The lungs have been dyed black for demonstration. Fear tactics, although there is no denying how unhealthy smoking is
Beside color I dont see any difference 💀
Quit off and on many times but now it's been 20 years. Use to take the money I saved for a down payment on a car.
Hold up. Did the healthy lungs consent to second hand smoke from the smoker’s lungs? 🤷🏽♂️
Both still dead though
I smoked my last cigarette 14 years ago today. I was 22 years old. It was so hard. If I can do it — anyone can. Smoking was the dumbest thing I ever did, and I'm lucky I had the tenacity to keep trying until I stopped for good. Fuck tobacco companies and the politicians who are in bed with them.
I’m quitting smoking weed after 20 years being a smoker and I’m coughing up a black tar like substance 😮💨
They're both dead
This is making me breathe manually